Overview
A pitch is a proposal that prospective filmmakers and screenwriters prepare to sell their idea for a film to prospective studios or investors. A critical component of a pitch is an explanation of genre: How does this film idea fit into preexisting conventions and modes of its chosen genre? What innovations or inventions does it introduce? This obviously requires a depth of knowledge about popular Hollywood film genres and their evolution through history. When adapting a film into a new genre, this challenge is even more pressing. What needs to change when shifting a story from one genre to another? How will the filming need to change?
For your final assignment, you will be drafting a Genre Swapping Pitch. You will select ONE (1) film that we have watched so far this semester and ONE (1) genre that was NOT the genre for which we originally viewed the film and devise a plan to adapt that film into its new genre. For example, you may decide to make Down With Love a horror film, or The Ballad of Buster Scruggs a musical. You will then draft a pitch that consists of the following six components: (1) a new title for your adapted film; (2) a logline (a 1-2 sentence summary of the plot of the newly adapted film; (3) the newly chosen genre, the major conventions of that genre, and the themes that tend to be present in that genre and that are present in your newly pitched film; (4) a list of characters with casting ideas and brief (20-50 word) justifications for those casting choices; (5) the film’s unique technical qualities, including things like color palette, cinematographic techniques, editing, sound, etc.; and (6) comps (a list of films similar to the film you are pitching).